Business

Taking the Air Out of the Bubble Slowly

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ June 28, 2011 / Leave a comment

I’m on record as believing that things are a little out of whack in startup world. That funding is a little high. That companies are going public that probably shouldn’t. I’m not ready to back down from any of those comments. The curious thing about this bubble though is that...
The 2 Types of Innovation and 5 Types of Companies

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ June 27, 2011 / Leave a comment

There are essentially two different levels of innovation: Addressing Latent Demand – Most companies are founded on an innovation. This could be as simple as, “there aught to be a Chinese Food Restaurant on Carson Street” or as complex as, “The internet and mobile device users will latch on to...
Good People, Great People and Startups

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ June 23, 2011 / 2 Comments

Recently Bill Taylor at the Harvard Business Review wrote an Article entitled, “Great People are Over Rated“. He jumped on the bit of controversy around the salary of tech engineers these days. Facebook has been stealing Google employees (at least 89 at the moment), Google has offered hundreds of thousands...
Great Companies Master Markets not Products

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ June 16, 2011 / Leave a comment

I love startups, it’s the reason I spend so much time with this blog. It makes me giddy to see the explosion in startups and the explosion in IPOs from those startups. This week, I noticed an item that gave me pause though. IBM is turning 100 years old. Can...
Could Pittsburgh Burst in the Next Bubble?

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ June 7, 2011 / 4 Comments

I’m not sure how many of my readers still follow Mike Madison’s Pittsblog after several long hiatuses, but he seems to be back to posting at least a few times per week. It’s one of two updates I probably need to make to the blog roll in the next couple...
When I Have This Kind of Weather on a Holiday…

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ May 30, 2011 / 2 Comments

…you don’t get much of a blog post. That said, I have had a few miscellaneous thoughts on my mind that I thought might entertain you: LinkedIn’s IPO scares me a little bit. When you compare it to Twitter and Facebook, I think it is the weakest social network… I think that...
It’s Always Time to Panic: Learning from Netflix

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ May 7, 2011 / 3 Comments

Netflix was in a dying business model three years ago. Sure, it didn’t look like it was dying. The company was the hottest stock on the market, they were literally driving conventional video stores out of business. It looked like time to sip champagne and celebrate. It wasn’t. It was...
Laws of IT’s Future: Apps, SOA and HTML 5 and the Tiny Trend

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ April 30, 2011 / Leave a comment

People are often asking me what I think is going to happen next in IT… do I think cloud is going to take off? at what level? do I think HTML 5 will be a big deal? How long will Apple be a leader? What will they do next? And...
ET Phone Customers

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ April 27, 2011 / 3 Comments

SETI today suspended their search for extraterrestrial life. They will no longer point satellite dishes toward space and try to catch glimpses of radio transmissions. Finally. I have been arguing in smaller circles for a long time that this is an absolutely ridiculous use of time and technology. The key...
Facebook vs. GroupOn is On

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ April 26, 2011 / 2 Comments

I am on the record as saying GroupOn should have sold to Google and then shouldn’t have raised $950B. Starting today, the biggest battle that GroupOn faces will start to prove me either right or wrong. Facebook has launched “Facebook Deals” in 5 test cities. It’s not quite as threatening...